Survey Suggests Social Media Platforms Are Failing Australia’s Under-16 Ban

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A new survey is raising fresh doubts about the effectiveness of Australia’s social media minimum age law, with most teenagers under 16 reportedly still accessing major platforms months after the restrictions came into force.

According to a YouGov survey commissioned by 7News Spotlight, 85% of Australians aged 13 to 15 said they continue to use social media daily despite the country’s Social Media Minimum Age (SMMA) rules, which prohibit under-16s from holding accounts on age-restricted platforms. The findings add to the growing scrutiny of how platforms implement age assurance and enforcement mechanisms.

Australia’s SMMA framework took effect in December 2025 and requires platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, and X to take “reasonable steps” to prevent underage users from maintaining accounts. Companies that fail to comply can face penalties of up to A$49.5 million.

The country’s eSafety Commissioner has already identified several potential compliance failures. In a March 2026 compliance update, regulators said some platforms allowed users who initially declared themselves under 16 to repeatedly retry age checks, including facial age estimation systems, until they successfully gained access. Authorities also criticized some reporting systems as ineffective for parents trying to flag underage accounts.

Despite platforms reporting that roughly 4.7 million age-restricted accounts were removed or restricted shortly after the law came into force, regulators warned that many children may still be able to create accounts by entering an older birth date, without triggering stronger verification checks.

Australia’s approach has become one of the most closely watched global experiments in online age assurance, with governments in countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Türkiye, and Gabon exploring similar social media age verification frameworks.